Life & Style

Posted Tue Aug 23 07:56:33 EAT 2016

Accumulate CFC for long term

By SIMON MBURU

In Summary

A market report on real estate investments stocks in Kenya by Cytonn Investments indicates that Reits have produced a disastrous track record on the local bourse.

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NSE Indices: The NSE indices are not yet out of the woodworks. Last week, they stretched their streak of poor market performance, with many stocks barely improving.

By the end of trading on Friday, the blue-chip index which benchmarks the market, NSE 20 Share Index closed the week at 3,462.56 points. The 25 Share Index ended the week at 3,949.14 points while the NSE All Share Index ended the week at 146.75 points.

Fahari: Stanlib’s Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) last week announced its financial results for the seven months to June 2016. The first income REIT to be listed on the NSE declared that it had posted a return of 6.5 per cent.

This came as the I-Reit posted a net profit of Sh53 million. According to Mr Robert Ochieng’, a financial markets analyst, Fahari I-Reit further disclosed that it had earnings per share of 2.9 and headline earnings per unit of 0.23.

“The returns aren’t desirable right now and investors should not be too quick to throw their money on this counter,” he says.

Additionally, the Fahari I-Reit ended the seven-month period with revenues of Sh117.94 million. According to the financial statement from the firm, these revenues included rental income that was derived from three properties in Nairobi.

The firm announced that it had nearly completed the acquisition of three assets which include Bay Holdings, Highway House, and Greenspan Mall which is 94 per cent occupied.

Disastrous track record

Stanlib says at least 69 per cent of the Reit’s assets are properties while around 31 per cent of assets are in cash and near cash forms. A market report on real estate investments stocks in Kenya by Cytonn Investments indicates that Reits have produced a disastrous track record on the local bourse, with low subscriptions and significantly negative price performance.

Nonetheless, the report noted that the potential for growth was still highly significant compared to other markets. “The Reit market capitalisation to gross domestic product (GDP) in Kenya is currently 0.06 per cent compared 6.9 per cent in South Africa. This shows there’s room for growth real estate listings,” said the report.